It is not Russia that is reducing payments in dollars, as the West is doing everything itself, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
“We will continue to work together with out partners on the formation of a stable, secure system of international payments, independent of the US dollar and other Western reserve currencies, which, with such a policy of Western elites, Western rulers, will inevitably lose their universal character. They are doing everything themselves. This is not us who is reducing payments in dollars or other so-called universal currencies. They are doing everything with their own hands,” Putin said.
The authorities have maintained the stability of the economy, prevented the deficit and collapse of the financial system, the president said.
Putin stressed that the labor market has not sunk, but has improved. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the unemployment rate stood at 4.7 percent, while now it is at 3.7 percent, which is a historical low, the Russian head of state said.
He stressed that Russian banks are stable and in 2022 turned a profit of 203 billion rubles ($2.8 billion), despite Western sanctions. In the meantime, he stated that additional measures should be taken to de-offshore the economy, while businesses should operate in Russian jurisdiction.
The president pointed out that Russian businesses had shown that they can adapt, and every initiative aimed at the development and benefit of Russia should be supported.
“Sanctions against Russia are only a means, and the goal, as the Western leaders themselves declare … is to make our citizens suffer, to make [them] suffer … They want to make the people suffer, thereby destabilizing our society from within. But their calculation was not justified,” Putin said during his address to the Federal Assembly.
